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Judge: Attorney General Kathleen Kane 'corrupt, dishonest'

HARRISBURG (AP) - Accusations by two judges who oversaw grand juries are adding to the intrigue and acrimony surrounding Attorney General Kathleen Kane, with one accusing her or her agents of stealing files from him and being the most corrupt public servant he has encountered.

In a Pittsburgh Tribune-Review report Thursday, a former statewide grand jury judge, Barry Feudale, accused Kane or her agents of breaking into his office in the disappearance of three sensitive files in 2013.

"That's a burglary," Feudale said. "It's a theft."

Later Thursday, Feudale put out a statement calling Kane "the most corrupt, dishonest, deceptive politically motivated 'public servant' I have encountered in my 28 years as a judge."

A Kane spokesman said he would expect Feudale to be able to back up his theft allegation with evidence. Feudale said that next week he'll release a complaint and a statement about transcripts, letters, emails, voicemails and other documents corroborating his assertions.

Kane said Wednesday that she had reported Feudale, now a senior judge in Northumberland County, to a judicial ethics agency for a breach of secrecy laws.

Kane's allegation concerns her successful effort later in 2013 to persuade the state Supreme Court to remove Feudale as a grand jury judge. Kane had complained that Feudale had disparaged her and her predecessor, Linda Kelly, and the records in the case were sealed.

The Philadelphia Inquirer has reported that records show Feudale called police to report the break-in. The case apparently was turned over to the attorney general's office, and Feudale told the Inquirer he never heard about it from anyone there.

Kane, a Democrat, is working with a law license that has been suspended by the state Supreme Court. She also faces perjury, obstruction and other criminal charges in Montgomery County alleging she leaked secret grand jury information to the Philadelphia Daily News last year and lied about it under oath. She denies wrongdoing.

Meanwhile, a special bipartisan Senate committee could recommend Kane's removal under an obscure constitutional provision never used in the modern era. The six-member committee met in private Tuesday and has 30 days to deliver a report to the Senate on whether Kane can fulfill her duties as attorney general.

On Tuesday, a Montgomery County judge who oversaw the grand jury investigation into whether Kane leaked information to the Daily News said he believes his home was under surveillance last fall and he was followed while in his car.

Judge William Carpenter did not say who he believed was behind the spying, but he made the eye-opening statement in court before he denied a motion to dismiss a contempt of court charge against a top Kane aide, Patrick Reese.

Carpenter's office would not say Thursday whether a law enforcement agency is investigating the matter or whether he has made the same statement in a proceeding in any other case.

Reese was charged along with Kane and is accused of violating Carpenter's protective order in the grand jury investigation by searching the office's email archive for information about the probe to help Kane keep tabs on it.

Reese's lawyer said he believes Carpenter's allegation has nothing to do with Reese.